1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to data communications and information systems and, in particular, to an automated system and method for monitoring travel of a vehicle and for communicating vehicle travel information to a user at a remote location regarding the proximity of the vehicle relative to a predefined destination.
2. Related Art
There are many situations when it is desirable to know the actual arrival time of a particular vehicle at a particular destination or other location. With this information, adjustments can be made to avoid waiting for a particular vehicle to reach the particular destination. For example, a person picking up a friend or relative at a commercial bus station usually either calls the bus station to find out the approximate arrival time (information which is oftentimes unavailable or unreliable) and/or arrives at the bus station prior to the scheduled arrival time of the bus hoping that the bus is not significantly delayed.
Another example involves school children that ride school buses. The arrival times of school buses at scheduled stops can be significantly affected by many factors such as maintenance problems, rush hour traffic, and congested urban/suburban conditions. As a result, school children typically wait at bus stops for long periods of time, oftentimes in adverse weather conditions, on unlit street corners, or in hazardous conditions near busy or secluded streets. A system informing the students of the school bus"" proximity is desirable in order for the students to avoid waiting on the school bus at the school bus stop for extended times.
Yet another example is in the commercial overnight package delivery industry, wherein packages are delivered on a tight schedule. Customers oftentimes wait on delivery of important time-critical packages not knowing precisely when the delivery will occur. A system informing the customer of the precise arrival time is desirable in order to improve customer service and to allow the customer to better rely on the estimated arrival time of the delivery.
Thus, generally, it is desirable to know when a vehicle (such as a bus, truck, train, plane, user, or the like) is (a) a particular time period (for example, a certain number of minutes or seconds) away from arriving at a destination, (b) a particular distance (for example, number of feet or miles) away from the destination, or (c) at a particular location among a set of predetermined location points.
In order to alleviate the arrival time problem in the context of school buses, student notification systems in the past have been employed that use a transmitter on each bus and a receiver inside each student home. U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,661 to Boone et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,969 describe systems of this type. When the school bus and its on-board transmitter come within a certain range of a particular home receiver, the transmitter sends a signal to notify the student that the school bus is nearby. While such notification systems work satisfactorily under certain circumstances, nevertheless, these systems are limited by the range of the transmitters and require the purchase of relatively expensive receivers for each student. In addition, such systems provide little flexibility for providing additional information to the students, such as notifying them of the delayed arrival of a bus, alternative bus route information, or information regarding important school events.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry for a system and method for monitoring travel of a vehicle and for providing desirable travel information, such as, for example, an updated location of the vehicle.
The present invention overcomes the inadequacies and deficiencies of the prior art as discussed herein. In general, the present invention provides an automated system and method for monitoring travel of a vehicle and for communicating vehicle travel information to a user located at a remote location in response to a request by the user.
In a broad sense, the present invention utilizes a storage mechanism, a data manager, and communications devices. The storage mechanism receives and stores travel information transmitted from a vehicle at a remote location. The travel information preferably includes data that indicates a location of the vehicle, such as the coordinates of the vehicle relative to a predefined reference point, but the travel information may include various other information in lieu of or in combination with the location data. When a user at another remote location wishes to view all or some of this the travel information transmitted by the vehicle, the user establishes communication with the data manager and submits a request. In response to the request, the data manager retrieves the desired information and transmits a message containing the information from a communications device at associated with the data manager to another communications device associated with the user. By analyzing this retrieved information, the user can monitor the travel of a particular vehicle.
In accordance with another feature of the present invention, a mapping system is designed to receive the travel data retrieved by the data manager and to generate mapping data based on the retrieved travel data. The mapping data is transmitted to a device at the user""s location which renders the mapping data as a graphical display indicating the location of the vehicle on a map. By viewing the map, the user can monitor the travel of the vehicle.
In accordance with another feature of the present invention, the data manager compares predefined preference data to travel data associated with a particular vehicle. When a comparison of the predefined preference data to the travel data associated with the particular vehicle indicates that there is an impending arrival of the vehicle at a particular location, the data manager transmits a notification message to the user.
In accordance with another feature of the present invention, the particular vehicle includes a sensor for determining a location of the particular vehicle relative to a predefined reference point. A communications device associated with the particular vehicle transmits travel data indicating the location of the particular vehicle to the storage mechanism. Preferably, the communications device associated with the particular vehicle transmits the travel data through a cellular network or some other wireless communications system.
In accordance with another feature of the present invention, contact information is retrieved by the data manager in order to enable communication between the communications devices. The contact information is preferably predefined by the user and indicates a preferred medium of communication with which to transmit the travel data to the user.
The present invention can also be viewed as providing a method for communicating travel data associated with a particular vehicle. Briefly described, the method can be broadly conceptualized by the following steps: receiving travel data transmitted from vehicles located at remote locations; storing the travel data; receiving a request from a user located at a remote location; retrieving travel data associated with a particular vehicle in response to the request; forming a message corresponding with the travel data retrieved in the retrieving step; and transmitting the message to a communications device associated with the user.
The present invention has many advantages, a few of which are delineated hereafter, as mere examples.
An advantage of the present invention is that a particular vehicle associated with the system can be monitored, and a user can be notified when an arrival of the vehicle at a predefined destination is imminent. As a result, the user can prepare for the arrival of the vehicle knowing the precise time of arrival of the vehicle.
Another advantage of the present invention is that a user at a remote location can monitor the travel of a particular vehicle by gaining access to the travel data used to monitor the vehicle.
Another advantage of the present invention is that a user at a remote location can receive, on demand, updated information pertaining to the travel or status of a particular vehicle.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it can be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination thereof.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art upon examination of the following detailed description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is intended that all such features and advantages be included herein within the scope of the present invention, as is defined by the claims.